


The Unexpected HitoKyou

by EdamamiTomoe



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 05:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12881136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdamamiTomoe/pseuds/EdamamiTomoe
Summary: First, Kyouko beats Sayaka's ass for wanting to hunt down a familiar. And then she starts dating her friend Hitomi. What else can go wrong in Sayaka's life?





	The Unexpected HitoKyou

**Author's Note:**

> I uploaded this here once upon a time but took it down when I got rid of my old AO3. This fic is now being reuploaded as per a friend's request.

“You said you wanted us to meet this new boyfriend of yours, eh Hitomi?” Sayaka grinned, lounging back in her chair and smirking mischievously, eagerly awaiting the chance to embarrass her friend in front of the new guy.

Madoka seemed to know what the blue-haired girl was up to, and gave her a look that said “please don’t do that”. But that wasn’t gonna stop her!

“Well, you see…” Hitomi began, clearing her throat. When it didn’t seem to do her any good, she quickly took a sip from her drink, then cleared her throat again before continuing. She was visibly nervous. “Umm, well this person… “

“What’s wrong, Hitomi? Is it someone cute? Someone unexpected?” Sayaka teased. She just couldn’t resist; she was going to make this as difficult for her friend as possible. This was a great opportunity, after all!

“U-umm, Hitomi, you don’t really have to rush this if you’re not ready yet, you know.” Madoka said, hoping to bring some comfort admist the torrent of teasing. “We could do this another day! We could do this when you actually feel ready!”

Hitomi quickly explained, “No, no it’s okay. I want to do this today. I mean, she’s already here too, I don’t want to give her trouble by postponing our meeting.”

“...Wait, she?” Sayaka paused. Was Hitomi dating a girl? It couldn’t be, could it? She was the one who stressed about the importance of love between a man and a woman, and now she was…?

“Yes, it is a girl.” Hitomi said after taking a deep breath, “Now, I know what you are thinking. I know I have said that uhh, girls can’t love girls. I did say that when I uhh… th-thought you two had something going on, but I umm…”

“Don’t worry, Hitomi. You don’t have to explain yourself.” Madoka gave her a reassuring smile, “But who is this girl? I don’t think we’ve ever seen you have any kind of… you know, that kind of interaction with any other girl before.”

“I uhh… we’ll explain once she arrives.” Hitomi said, her cheeks becoming slightly flushed, “I get so excited just thinking about her… Oh! Here she comes!”

An all-too-familiar voice called out, “Hey guys, what’s up!”

“K-Kyouko Sakura!?” Sayaka blurted out, staring wide-eyed at the red-headed girl plopping down next to Hitomi with her own tray of food. There was no way this was happening, right? When could they have met? How could Hitomi have come to love a person like… that?

“O-oh!” Even Madoka was shocked, and left rather speechless. She simply blushed and looked down, and then up at Hitomi again, avoiding eye contact with Kyouko. It simply felt too awkward talking to someone who fought with Sayaka the last time they met.

“I know you two already know Kyouko Sakura, but she told me she hasn’t had a proper introduction yet, so I am here to do that.” Hitomi beamed happily, Kyouko’s arm around her shoulder, “Sayaka, Madoka, meet Kyouko. Kyouko, meet Sayaka and Madoka.”

“Nice t’meet yah!” The hooligan grinned, not bothering to hold out her hand to shake, “Now listen, you two, I know we didn’t exactly start off on the right foot…”

“Y-You…” Sayaka growled, but then stopped herself. She wanted to say ‘you were trying to kill me’, but there was no way she could in front of Hitomi. In fact, the poor girl felt like showing any kind of anger towards Kyouko in front of her friend would be wildly inappropriate, especially when she’s introducing this girl as her girlfriend. “...H-Hitomi, why… her, of all people?”

“Sayaka!” The rich girl gasped, “I didn’t think you were the judgmental type! Just because she doesn’t live under the same socioeconomic circumstances as us, doesn’t mean she’s not a good person!”

“Wh-what!? That’s not…!” How could it have come to this? Sayaka was at a loss of words, and looked away, her cheeks red now in both anger and embarrassment. She couldn’t look at Hitomi, and she certainly couldn’t look at Kyouko.

“S-say, Hitomi, how did you and Kyouko met?” Madoka quickly asked, nervously smiling and trying to lighten the mood and make this situation as least awkward as possible. “I mean, she doesn’t even come to our school.”

“Well, truthfully… “ Hitomi blushed and looked at her partner, “Umm, why don’t you tell the story, Kyouko?”

“Heh, sure thing.” The unmannered girl was speaking in between bites of her burger, and swallowed before she continued. “We actually met at the market. I was stealing some food and she caught me red-handed.”

“Yes, yes I was. But when I found out she was… homeless, and poor, and that this was all she could live off of, I felt… so bad.” The green-haired girl explained, looking at Sayaka and hoping she would understand, “I just… I’ve been so sheltered throughout all my life, I never realized the kinds of things people less fortunate than us live through. It’s so horrible.”

“Yep.” Kyouko wasn’t even bothering to wipe up the ketchup stains on her cheek. “So she took me in… well, explaining it to her parents was more of like, ‘oh this is a friend who wants to hang out for a bit’, but basically I’m crashing at her place now. In her room too, nonetheless.”

“Oh Kyouko, you didn’t have to mention that last part.” Hitomi blushed a vivid red, burying her face into Kyouko’s shoulder, “I mean, it’s the first time I’ve…”

“Whoa whoa, I didn’t mention that part. Now you’re just bringing up embarrassing things yourself!” Kyouko laughed, and Hitomi giggled, covering her face.

“N-no way…” Sayaka had recomposed herself enough not to show disgust on her face, and was now looking at the… couple sitting across from her. How did it come to this? Why wasn’t Hitomi after some talented, well-mannered boy from their class? Why did she choose to accept this street rat of all people? Was she aware that Kyouko is a magical girl who lets people die? “I-I mean, uhh, I’m happy for you! It’s nice! That you f-found someone!”

“Chill out, Sayaka.” Kyouko said, taking a sip from her drink, “You don’t have to pretend you’re fine with this. I know you don’t like me, and you have good reason for that, but. Just gimme a chance, alright? I mean, I’m learning things too, and I actually have money now, so. Just don’t like, do what you do, y’know? Go easy on me.”

“I-I’m uhh, I’m gonna go now.” Sayaka said, getting up quickly and picking up her bag. Though both Madoka and Hitomi seemed worried about her, and urged her to stay, she still got her stuff and took her leave. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

\---

“S-Sayaka, wait up!” Madoka trailed after her friend, quickly following her out of the food court.

“Oh, Madoka.” Sayaka said, slowing down for her friend. When she caught up, she resumed her normal pace, though. “Can you believe it? Our close friend is dating the amoral girl who tried to kill me. Out of all people! I swear, if fate’s real, then it’s really messing with me right now. I just…! I just! I won’t have any of that!”

“Sayaka…” Madoka seemed to shrink as her friend ranted on, but she still followed her, “I-I’m sure things are different now, though. I mean, you know Hitomi well! We both do! She doesn’t just make decisions without thinking, so I’m sure there’s… good reason for this…”

“Yeah right, I’m sure there is.” The blue-haired girl sighed, “Anyways, I’m gonna go see Kyousuke now. Hopefully he’ll help me take my mind off of things. Talking with him always makes me feel better.”

“Oh! A-alright, Sayaka.” Madoka smiled, “I hope you’ll be okay.”

“Oh don’t worry, I will be.” Sayaka laughed, “I did make my wish for him.”

The blue-haired girl went on her way eagerly. Now that Kyousuke had recovered from his injuries, he was probably going to start coming to class again, and just thinking about that excited her. Sayaka wondered when might be the best time to confess to him.

But with all that’s happened today… she didn’t feel too optimistic. Life has been a bit too unpredictable, with Kyouko showing up one day to kill her, and then going to date her friend a few days after… what’s next, Kyouko showing up in class?

\---

“Anyways, we have a new student today! Goodness, so many new students in such a short amount of time. Come in, Kyouko Sakura!”

There was no way this was happening. Did Hitomi seriously go through the trouble of enrolling this girl who probably has never been educated? In such a prestigious school? Sayaka groaned and held her head in her hands, staring down at her desk. This had to be a bad dream. Unfortunately it wasn’t.

“Hey guys, I’m Kyouko Sakura. Nice t’meet you all!” The hooligan was now in school uniform, and her introduction was nothing less than confident, giving the class a thumbsup and a cheeky grin. Though both Sayaka and Madoka suspect it was actually aimed at Hitomi, seeing how the girl was blushing and smiling excitedly…

“Due to unfortunate circumstances, Sakura hasn’t been able to attend school for several years.” Saotome explained, “So I hope you all will be kind to her and help her out whenever you can!”

Just when Sayaka thought her day couldn’t get any worse…

“Sakura? Why don’t you take that empty seat next to Miki?”

“Sure thing, teach.” Kyouko chuckled, probably amused at this strange twist of fate, and went over, activating the desk and plopping down in her seat.

Sayaka tried not to look at her, but it was clear Kyouko was eager to tease her. Or, harass, rather, poking her arm with a pencil and giggling whenever the teacher wasn’t looking. Oh, what a fun year this was going to be.

\---

Throughout the day, Sayaka had to endure the insufferable Kyouko becoming more and more popular amongst the girls. It wasn't that the blue-haired girl herself wanted the popularity, it was just pretty annoying to hear “she's so cool!” and “look at how strong she is!” every time Kyouko did something in physical education class, especially when it comes from Hitomi, who seemed unabashed to embrace her newfound lesbianism. Not even through demonstrating her superior mathematics and literature skills in class, could Sayaka make people think twice about how “cool” and “awesome” Kyouko is; it simply makes some of the girls in class admire the hooligan for being “bad” and “having an attitude”, traits the teachers seemed to find troubling. Whatever happened to integrity and hardwork?

Needless to say, Kyouko quickly became popular amongst the timid girls who wish they had a stronger girl to protect them, and Hitomi seemed quite proud to be openly affectionate with her.

Worst of all, however, was having to eat lunch with Kyouko. There was no reason Hitomi wasn't going to exclude her sweetheart from their friend group, of course, but it only made things extremely awkward for Sayaka. Madoka didn't seem to mind, and have come to accept that Kyouko wasn't quite as bad as she seems, and that only bothered the blue-haired girl even more.

“Kyouko, what's life like now now that you're living with Hitomi?” Madoka asked as she ate, still seeming rather eager to learn more about this newly popular couple.

“It's really super cool! Like wow, Hitomi is honestly loaded.” Kyouko responded with food still in her mouth, “Like I've only ever dreamed of meals that luxurious, and beds that big. It's kinda weird to get used to though, but I don't really mind.”

“It is very pleasant having Kyouko staying at my place.” Hitomi added, “She has told me a lot about the difficulties of poverty and the side of Mitakihara City that we never really knew about. It really is quite enlightening, and I myself have taken to donating to charity regularly now, and being generous with those in need.”

“Really? That's really nice!” Madoka exclaimed. She was much too delighted by Kyouko than Sayaka would have preferred.

“Yeah, it really is nice.” The red-headed girl was the first to finish her food, and had begun picking at her teeth. “I mean, in all honesty a lot of these problems are... not something one person can fix. And trying too hard to often times does lead to things getting worse.”

“It truly is unfortunate that that is the case.” Hitomi agreed, handing Kyouko her handkerchief so the girl wouldn't be wiping sauce off her mouth and cheeks with her sleeves, “I just really hope that with what I do, it would be enough to make a difference.”

“I'm sure it does, Hitomi! A lot of times doing small things that don't seem like much to you can easily be the world for the other person.” Madoka reassured, “After all, the kindness and warmth in helping others is what really makes a difference.”

“That is definitely so, Madoka.” Hitomi smiled, but then looked towards Sayaka with a look of concern, “Sayaka, you have been rather quiet today. Are you feeling okay?”

“Huh?” The sudden mention of her name brought the girl back to attention, “Oh yeah, I'm doing fine. Sorry, I don't think I got enough sleep last night. I've been spacing out left and right today!”

“Is that so?” Kyouko smirked, taunting Sayaka, “You seemed pretty clear-headed this morning in math class.”

“If you're not feeling well, Sayaka, I can take you to the nurse's office!” Madoka piped up, worried Kyouko might only escalate the awkwardness between them. She eagerly got up and pulled at Sayaka's arm. “Come on, Sayaka!”

“H-Huh? There's no need for...” As soon as the girl realized what Madoka was trying to do, she began to play along with it, and slowly got up. “O-oh yeah. Thanks, Madoka. I could lie down for a bit right now.”

“I hope you feel better soon, Sayaka.” Hitomi said, not seeming to have caught onto the situation, “I'll share my notes with you after school if you need it.”

“Thanks, Hitomi.” Sayaka smiled sheepishly, feeling slightly guilty for having to avoid her like this, “I'll be back soon.”

\---

The walk to the nurse's office was awkwardly quiet. It made Madoka rather nervous, just like the first time she walked Homura to the nurse's office, except this time it's her best friend who was being silent.

Wanting to make sure she was doing okay, Madoka broke the silence and asked, “Sayaka, are you going to be okay?”

“Y-yeah, I am.” Sayaka sighed, turning to Madoka and giving her a weak smile, “Sorry to worry you Madoka, I just... I just wish Hitomi wouldn't be like this. She has no idea what Kyouko is really like, and hanging around her for too long might end up dragging her into this magical girl business. I wouldn't want her to go through danger like that.”

Hearing the response, Madoka smiled, feeling rather relieved that Sayaka does have their friend's best interest in mind, and wasn't simply mad at Kyouko. However, she still seemed to want to defend the new girl. “But Sayaka, I feel like Kyouko has changed quite a bit now, don't you think? When we first met her, she was uncaring and violent and stuff, but now with Hitomi, she's even telling her about poverty and issues like that so Hitomi could do something to change it. Doesn't it feel like Hitomi is a good influence on Kyouko?”

“What difference does it make?” The blue-haired girl grumbled, still stubborn about the issue, “Behind all of that she's still a magical girl who lets people die because she wants to feast upon the witches that grew from human lives. It's inhumane.”

“Sayaka...” Madoka looked down, remembering the first conversation her friend has ever had with Kyouko. There wasn't much she could say to that.

Turning around, however, Sayaka gave Madoka a smile. “I know you're trying to make things better, Madoka. And I really appreciate it. But I feel like this is something I'm going to have to... deal with on my own. Kyouko isn't simply going to go away, and I doubt Hitomi would break up with her any time soon, so I'm going to have to come to terms with Kyouko on my own.”

“Are you sure, Sayaka...?”

“Yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine, Madoka!”

“If you say so...”

“Yeah.” The two were standing in front of the nurse's office at this point. “Oh, and Madoka? Let Hitomi know that I'm going to see Kamijo after school today, so I won't be there to hang out with you guys.”

“Oh, I will!”

\---

Resting at the infirmary did help Sayaka clear her mind about Kyouko, but perhaps the most comforting thing was knowing she was going to confess to Kyousuke today. Sayaka was excited; she was finally going to be with the boy she made her wish for. He normally would have practice after school today, but seeing as how he only recently returned from the hospital, they've been going easy on him for a few days. Today was the last day he would be free after school, and Sayaka was going to take advantage of that.

After all, there was no way Kyousuke was going to turn her down. She has been there for him all this time, taking it upon herself to learn more about his interests so she could have nice conversations with him, seeing him regularly in the hospital when few others did. Sayaka felt like she would make a perfect wife for him if he wanted.

Besides, having a boyfriend will definitely help take the edge off of having to deal with Kyouko.

And rings the last bell of the day. Upon class dismissal, Sayaka immediately gathered her stuff and hurried to the school's courtyard, waiting for Kyousuke to come out. She hoped none of her friends will see her doing this, because it would have been rather embarrassing. And she certainly hoped that Kyouko wasn’t watching.

As students excited to go home, or to go hang out with friends, or to go to supplementary classes filed out of the school building one by one, Sayaka kept vigilant watch of the entrance. Kyousuke does have a distinctive face, so she shouldn’t miss him. But the more she waited, the more she realized she didn’t actually know what she was going to say. This was the big confession day, and she hasn’t come up with what to say!

Sayaka grew a bit anxious and quickly began going through some lines in her head. What did people generally say when they confess? “I really like you, please go out with me”? That seemed too direct and overused, Kyousuke probably hears that all the time. Sayaka needed something different, something that will get his attention. “I love you, please accept me”? Much too dramatic, he’d be probably weirded out.

Maybe something casual? Oh that’s right, definitely something that has to do with their relationship. “I know we’ve been friends for a long time, but lately I’ve been thinking, I really do like you a whole lot. And I don’t just mean the friend way, I mean, I love you, Kamijo. And I want to be with you forever. May I be your girlfriend?” ...Well maybe that was a bit much, but it seemed a lot better. At least now Sayaka had a template to work off of, and that made her feel a lot more confident.

Looks like Kyousuke hasn’t showed up yet. What was Sayaka going to do to pass the time? Check her phone? No, that’s too much distraction. Oh that’s right, check herself in the mirror! She quickly took her pocket mirror out from her bag and took a look at herself. She wasn’t exactly the prettiest girl, nor has she ever really put too much effort into her appearance, but it was better to still make sure she looked her best. Her bang’s in the right place, none of her hair is poking out in the wrong place, the tone of her cheeks are nice and healthy. Yep, she should be fine.

Sayaka puts her mirror away and returned her attention back to the front entrance, and her heart immediately skips a beat: there was Kyousuke! The girl’s body immediately feels light and energized, and she quickly heads towards him. This was finally the moment she was going to confess!

Something felt off, though. Kyousuke seemed happy, which is good, but something felt off to Sayaka, and she couldn’t quite tell why. Was he with friends? Who was he talking to? Who was he looking at? Was that another girl? And are they… holding hands?

The fleeting feeling in her feet quickly disappeared, and the liveliness that was within her fell apart into a nausea. That can’t just be a friend, not with that kind of smile on Kyousuke’s face. Boys and girls at this age don’t just hold hands because they’re friends. They had to be dating.

Who in the world was that girl? She must be from another class. When did she confess? Just today? Yesterday? For how long had she known Kyousuke? Were they seriously that close that Kyousuke actually just accepted her…?

“Oh hey Miki, what’s up?” Kyousuke said as he and the girl approached, “You aren’t hanging out with Kaname and Shizuki today?”

“O-oh, uhh, hey Kamijo.” Sayaka said sheepishly, feeling extremely awkward now. Here she was, standing before the boy she was supposed to confessed to, who now has a girlfriend who was not her. What was she supposed to do now? “Oh! I uhh…”

“Are you okay, Miki? You don’t look so good. You look kind of pale.” As usual, Kyousuke was completely oblivious. It was clear enough from Sayaka’s expression and body language what the problem was; even the girl who was with Kyousuke could tell, and she was uncomfortable enough (and considerate enough) to tug on Kyousuke’s sleeve, motioning for him to get going. “Are you sick today?”

“N-no, not at all, Kamijo! I’m fine!” The blue-haired girl said, trying to regather herself so she wouldn’t make this so awkward for the other girl, “I’m uhh, just a little tired today. I’m heading home early today to get some rest.”

“Oh, I see.” That answer was actually enough to fool Kyousuke into thinking Sayaka was really okay. “By the way, Miki, are you friends with the new girl Sakura now? I saw you two having lunch together today, that’s really cool! I heard she’s a really cool and sociable person to be around, but she’s not exactly good at math and-”

“U-uhh, yeah! We’re umm, yeah we’re hanging out.” This was getting worse and worse. Sayaka could feel her lunch lurch around in her stomach and threatening to surge back into her mouth. “I-I have to go now, Kamijo. See you tomorrow!”

“Oh yeah, see you tomorrow Miki!”

\---

Sayaka didn’t know which was more pathetic: sobbing alone, sitting on a swing in an abandoned playground, or vomiting everything she ate that day behind the bushes. She couldn’t help herself. She thought she was strong enough to take a rejection like that, but as soon as she was out of sight, her nose grew stuffy, and her eyes watered. By the time she got to this playground, where she and Kyousuke used to play when they were little, she couldn’t hold anything back anymore.

At this point all this girl hoped was that none of her friends would come find her, and that she sees no one else for the rest of the day. The blue-haired girl just wanted to curl up and sleep at this point, feeling much too emotionally drained to do anything else. To curl up in her quiet solitude and to just sleep until tomorrow…

But of course, she wasn’t given that kind of luxury. Not with Kyouko showing up.

“Hey Sayaka, you didn’t make your wish for that Kamijo kid, did you?” Kyouko asked, standing before her, mindlessly gnawing on a pocky stick. From her tone Sayaka couldn’t tell if she was taunting her or what.

“What if I did?” Sayaka croaked, her voice still hoarse from crying and her eyesight still blurred by tears. “What do you want? You wanna laugh in my face?”

“I mean I could, but I’m not entirely heartless, geez.” The red-headed girl sat down in the swing next to Sayaka, much to her dismay. This girl wasn’t leaving anytime soon. She jokingly said, “Heh, you know, you are a magical girl now. You can do whatever you want. Why don’t you just go take him by force? Or even better, go after a better boy? Use your charms to seduce him?”

“Because I’m not an amoral bitch like you are.” Sayaka grumbled, wiping the tears from her face with her handkerchief, starting with her eyes. The red area around her eyes must be so obvious at this point, she couldn’t go home like this and have her parents find out what’s going on. “Because I actually care about people and how they feel.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?” Kyouko got up from the swing, her fist clutched. Though she was obviously offended by what the blue-haired girl said, she still tried to remain calm and reasonable. “You know what? Fine, forget about the boy, but don’t you realize how foolish you are being? You have all these friends you can rely on, and now that the people you’ve given yourself over to isn’t here for you anymore, you still don’t rely on your friends?”

“I made my wish because I want to help people.” Despite the other girl’s little outburst, Sayaka seemed to have remain unfazed and calm. “And if they don’t need my help, I guess I’m not really needed anymore, am I? I’m not going to make myself become a burden to others.”

“Y-you…!” Kyouko was beginning to seem more distraught than angry, “you can’t continue on like this, Sayaka! Being a magical girl doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to ask for help!”

“You do your own thing, Kyouko Sakura.” Sayaka got up from the swing and turned away, “But don’t you try to impose your own selfish ideas on me.”

“S-Sayaka…”

The blue-haired girl simply walked away, having calmed down somewhat, though not feeling any better. Perhaps even worse than before, but what else was new?

\---

And with one final strike, the witch fell apart, fading with the labyrinth around the magical girl and leaving behind a grief seed. Sayaka picked it up and put it away. She didn’t feel like bothering to clean her soul gem.

As for the witch’s victims, they all seemed to be unconscious, lying on top of the skyscraper. There was no way Sayaka could carry them all at once, but she was sure they’ll be fine when they wake up. She couldn’t be bothered to stay around for them; she simply took off once again, searching for the next witch she needed to kill.

If anything Kyouko said was right, Sayaka thought, it surely would be the fact that magical girls have a lot of freedom. Though learning from Mami, the magical girl had always thought hunting witches to be a duty that must be fulfilled, rather than an activity to be enjoyed, but here she was, enjoying tearing apart witch after witch. Being able to act so violently like no regular girls her age could felt somewhat relieving, but it only made her want to fight even more. After all, what else was there left for her to do?

Sayaka drew another few swords and threw them at another familiar spotted on the bridge over the highway. Expectedly, they were knocked aside by some familiar chains.

“Here to interfere with my work again?” The girl asked coldly, staring at the other magical girl approaching her. “Worried there won’t be enough witches for you to eat?”

“Sayaka, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Kyouko said, though her voice sounding more irritated and less sympathetic than it did earlier that day.

“I don’t have time to listen.” Sayaka responded coldly, her voice somewhat monotone, “Move out of my way.”

Realizing that asking her again to listen would only be a waste of time, Kyouko immediately began, her voice loud and demanding attention, “You know, I made my wish for someone else too. And that wish too turned against me.”

Sayaka stopped walking. She willingly admits to herself that she really doesn’t care about Kyouko at this point, but was something she hadn’t expected to hear.

“My father. He was a preacher, and he was pained to see people suffer every day. He wanted to do the world good too, but nobody wanted to hear his radical ideas, so people stopped coming to his church.” Kyouko continued her story, standing tall before Sayaka. She felt slightly nervous, worried Sayaka might lose interest at any point in time or simply tackle her out of the way, but it seemed like the blue-haired girl wasn’t mobilizing to do any of those.

“Our family became extremely poor afterwards, not having food to eat every day, all because nobody wanted to listen to my father’s ideas on making the world a better place. I thought it was so unfair and cruel. Why would they ignore him just because he’s no longer preaching from the Bible? Didn’t they care about human values like compassion and kindness?

“And then… Kyubey showed up. And I made my wish for people to listen to my father again. And you know what? It went really well in the beginning. More and more people showed up at the church to listen to my father preach, and our family quickly had food to eat again. And while my father was out there, helping people in broad daylight, I was fighting witches in the dark, saving people at night.”

Between the pauses in Kyouko’s story, the only noise there was were the moths flickering as they bumped into the glass of the street lamps and the humming of the cars that passed by underneath the bridge. Sayaka was standing still as a stone.

“When my father found out what really happened… he went mad. He couldn’t believe that people only listened to him because of some witchcraft, and he blamed it on me. He called me a witch, and he blamed my mother for my upbringing. Ever since then, he began… drinking a lot and beating my mother. One night, when my little sister tried to get him to stop, he struck her too. I… I grew so angry I wanted to get him to stop, but that only made things worse. He ended up killing both my mother and my sister, and later himself when he sobered up. By that point I had already fled.”

Though she hated having to feel sadness for such a girl, Sayaka couldn’t help but feel her eyes grow wet again. Part of her wanted to simply call it a lie, but deep down she knew that this must have all been true.

“Can you believe it? I made my wish for my father so my family’s and his life would be better, and it ended up killing everyone I loved.”

“Where are you going with this?” Sayaka asked, her gaze staring at Kyouko having softened slightly, but still stubborn.

“What I’m trying to say is I know how you feel, Sayaka. I’ve been there, and I want you to know that you aren’t alone in this. The people we’ve made our wishes for have given up on us, we only have each other left.” Kyouko’s expression was stern but not without sympathy. “I mean, honestly you’re pretty lucky. You have friends at school, you have a family. You have people to rely on, but you’re not relying on them when you’re weak. You gotta trust your friends more.”

“I do trust my friends, and I want to protect them. I’d rather not burden them with my troubles.” Sayaka said, her tone once again cold and monotone, “I’m not weak-willed like you are, Kyouko.”

“S-Sayaka, you…! How can you still not understand!? You’re not alone in this, why do you keep ignoring everyone around you?”

“I’m done with you, Kyouko. Move out of my way.” Sayaka glared, beginning to raise her sword, “If not, I’ll cut you down too.”

With that, Sayaka quickly dashed towards Kyouko, drawing more swords from her cape and swinging them wildly at her. The red magical girl was able to easily block them with her spear, segmenting it into chains to cover a larger range, and knock them out of her opponent’s hand. But it seemed like that’s what Sayaka already had in mind as she continued to recklessly swing her sword at Kyouko and having them knocked away one by one until she only had one sword left in hand.

Gripping her sword tightly with both hands, Sayaka began hacking away mindlessly at Kyouko, seeming to have abandoned any kind of swordsmanship or strategy. Seeing Sayaka in such a state, Kyouko seemed to be hesitant to strike back, doing nothing but blocking one attack after another, but when Sayaka had gotten too close to simply block safely, the girl deflected her next attack and kicked, sending the blue-haired girl back a few meters.

“Sayaka, you gotta realize how bad this is for yourself!”

Leaping forward again, Sayaka struck at her adversary, this time her blade not blocked, but entangled by the chains and pulled forward out of her hand. With a twirl of the chains, Kyouko threw the sword aside and slammed the links into Sayaka’s chest, knocking her back again.

“Are you really going to throw yourself away for a boy like that!?”

Sayaka was relentless, charging again and again at Kyouko, remaining on the offensive the entire time. She really wanted to listen to her, she really wanted to accept her sympathy, but she kept on attacking again and again, using the fight to numb out her emotions. The last thing she wanted to do was to admit weakness and neediness, especially to Kyouko.

“There’s so many people who care about you, Sayaka! Who would be worried to death to see you like this!”

Her eyes had grown wet once again, but the blue-haired girl couldn’t let up. Not now. She launched another dozen of blades towards Kyouko and leaped up into the air. Sayaka dove down with her blade pointed at her enemy, but her strike was easily avoided, only managing to break the concrete she landed on.

“You don’t have to repress yourself like Mami did!”

“What could you possibly know about Tomoe!?” Sayaka growled, finally responding to something Kyouko said, though only out of anger rather than tenderness. “It’s because of people like you that she died!”

“She… she was someone who also trained me, Sayaka.”

That was enough to get the blue-haired girl to temporarily cease her attacks, just before she leaped again at her with her swords. Sayaka remained crouched on the ground though, her sword in her hand. 

“Mami Tomoe and I met so many years ago, and we’ve been such close friends for a long time. I know her, Sayaka. I know her really well.” Kyouko’s voice was beginning to crack, “She always pretended to be tough, she always pretended that she was okay even when she wasn’t. She acted like she was fine, but I knew she was not. I knew the pain and fear and guilt she lives through every day.”

Sayaka looked down, feeling a coldness creeping up her back. She was beginning to feel bad about the things she had said to Kyouko about Mami, but she couldn’t will herself to utter an apology. At least not while the other girl was still talking.

“You don’t have to be like that. I wasn’t there for Mami when I should have been, but Sayaka, I… I can be here for you. You don’t have to pretend like you can take on the burden yourself. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

Hearing that was too much for the blue-haired girl, and tears began flowing down her cheeks. All the difficult emotions she had been harbouring up broke loose, and along with it came her tears and choking sobs. She was no longer poised to attack at this point, rather on her knees and sitting up, wailing helplessly like a child, her nose runny and her throat sore.

“S-Sayaka…” Kyouko dropped her spear and hurried to the Sayaka. Though they had never been that close before, she didn’t hesitate to kneel down and wrap her arms around the crying girl.

Her sight completely blurred by tears and her body slackened with grief, Sayaka had no strength to deny Kyouko’s affection, and simply accepted it, staring straight ahead while continuing to cry. She buried her face into the girl’s shoulders, muffling her sobs. At this point the blue-haired girl was simply mentally scolding herself, wondering why she kept on pushing her friends away rather than accepting their help. She wasn’t quite as alone as she made herself believe she was, but she simply couldn’t help but feel that way.

Sayaka wasn’t sure how long she had cried for, but it was evidently long enough for her to calm herself down slightly and for Hitomi to find them here.

“Kyouko! Sayaka!” Hitomi called out, hurrying over to them, “A-are you… i-is she okay…?”

“Yeah, I think she’ll be fine.” Kyouko smiled gently, removing the grief seed from Sayaka’s soul gem and standing back up, “She’s just had a rough day.”

“Mm, I see…” Hitomi still seemed worried, but she gave Sayaka a smile and offered her a hand, “Sayaka, come on. You must be exhausted, Kyouko and I are gonna get you something to eat.”

\---

It was already midnight at this point, but thankfully fast food places remained open. Hitomi treated Sayaka and Kyouko, though the latter seemed to have a lot more of an appetite, as per usual.

“...So you already knew about Kyouko being a magical girl?” Sayaka asked Hitomi, her voice still slightly scratchy from having cried for so long.

“Yes, I did know about it all.” Hitomi smiled, leaning her head against her girlfriend’s shoulder, “I know, I was not very truthful with you and Madoka when I first introduced her, but in all honesty that was only because I did not know you two were already involved, and was trying to keep you two safe and out of it all.”

“Heh, how ironic.” Sayaka got a small laugh out of that, and then turned to Kyouko, “You weren’t very truthful with Hitomi, were you?”

“Hey, I wasn’t lying when I said we didn’t start off on the right foot!” Kyouko said, and Hitomi and Sayaka laughed. “I mean, if I just told her ‘yeah I tried to kill your friend’, I’m pretty sure she woulda called the cops on me instead of taking me in.”

Sayaka took a sip of her drink, then asked Hitomi, “I get the feeling that the story about you catching her stealing wasn’t exactly true either.”

“Well it was a true story, but it wasn’t how we met.” Hitomi smiled, “She actually rescued me from one of the witches. I was so grateful for her, and even considered becoming a magical girl myself.”

“I suppose you’ve changed her mind about that?” Sayaka raised an eyebrow at Kyouko.

“Well duh, you think I’d just let her make a wish all willy nilly when she’s got just about everything she could possibly want out of life?” Kyouko had already finished her food, and was wiping her mouth with a napkin. “It’d be such a waste.”

“Indeed. I have made the decision not to become a magical girl unless I absolutely need to.” The green-haired girl said, then blushed, “Besides, I’d rather have Kyouko save me like the prince she is.”

“O-oh! Haha, i-is that right!” Kyouko’s cheeks quickly turned red, and she nervously looked away, this little exchange evoking a small chuckle from Sayaka.

After the pleasant banter, came a brief period of silence. They were all quite aware of what hasn’t been addressed yet.

“...Sayaka, I know uhh, I’ve made things difficult for you, and I hope you’ll forgive me for that.” Kyouko began, looking down sheepishly, “But I want to let you know that I do care for you, and I do like you quite a lot, despite how we started out. I guess I was just… in denial, y’know? Like, your attitude reminded me so much of the past, I didn’t want to think about it…”

“I-it’s alright, Kyouko.” Sayaka looked somewhat embarrassed as well, and from her voice it was quite clear she wasn’t sure if she was saying the right words or not, “I’m… honestly uhh, thankful you were there for me. I will admit I was… kinda being stupid, and you really helped me through that…”

“I-I’m uhh, I’m sorry too!” Hitomi suddenly piped up, making both Kyouko and Sayaka jump a bit.

“Huh? What are you sorry for, Hitomi?” The blue-haired girl asked. She wasn’t quite sure how her friend had wronged her.

“I um… I suppose I simply feel a little responsible for you feeling like you have no one to rely on.” The girl explained, her expression full of guilt, “My schedule is always so full that it always feels like we only have so much time to talk every day, so I suppose that must make it feel like I am never here for you when you need me to be. I-I want to let you know that even if it is late at night, you should text or call me if you need me for anything! I do not want you to feel alone ever again.”

“H-Hitomi… “ Sayaka said, tearing up again. She quickly wiped it away with her sleeve, but she couldn’t hide how quivery her voice had gotten again, “I-I swear, you guys. I’m honestly so grateful I’ve met you two. Kyouko, Hitomi… I’m just… I’m just so thankful you two are here for me like this. I don’t know where I’d be if it’s not for… ugh, I’m so sorry I’m getting so emotional about this.”

“Don’t worry about it Sayaka.” Kyouko grinned, “Just be sure to be good to yourself, yeah?”

“Y-yeah. I will.” Sayaka yawned, and rubbed her eyes again.

“Dear me, it is 1:30 already?” Hitomi exclaimed, checking her watch, “Gosh, we should really get home. Sayaka, do you need us to escort you?”

“Oh no, I’ll be fine.” The girl yawned again as she got up.

“Yeah, I don’t believe that for one second Sayaka.” Kyouko got up as Hitomi did, “We’re escorting you home tonight. I’d rather not you fall asleep in the middle of the road or something.”

“Fine, fine.” Sayaka smiled , “Come on, let’s go now.”

\---

“This is it.”

The three girls arrived at the Miki Residency. Though the trip wasn’t in complete darkness, as there were street lamps to light the way, it still felt kind of strange being teenage girls walking around this late, even if they were magical girls.

“You sure this is gonna be fine, Sayaka?”

“Yes, are you sure your parents will not be upset with you?”

“What if they think you’re like a burglar or something?”

“Nah, I’m gonna be fine.” The blue-haired girl smiled, “My parents are uhh… let’s just say they’re lax with me.”

“If you say so…” Hitomi said, still somewhat worried as Sayaka took out her keys and unlocked the front gate.

Once the gate was opened, Sayaka turned to Hitomi and Kyouko once again.

“U-um, I wanna thank you guys again. You two have been really good to me tonight.” She said kinda awkwardly, fidgeting a bit and blushing lightly.

“Nah, it’s fine, Saya-”

And before Kyouko could finish, she found Sayaka’s hands on her shoulders and her lips against hers. Kyouko’s cheeks quickly flared up as she realized what she was doing, and Hitomi gasped. Before she could say anything, though, Sayaka lets go of Kyouko, and then did the same to her: holding her shoulders tightly and kissing her on the lips.

Sayaka pulled away, and she at once realized how flustered she had gotten both Kyouko and Hitomi, and how red her own cheeks had become. It was such a daring move, and it made Sayaka feel an excitement she hadn’t ever before.

“U-Umm, g-good night guys!” She said and closed the gate behind her, hurrying into the house.

\---

In the days that followed, the three girlfriends simply got closer and closer, though not publically. It seemed like both Madoka and Homura were surprised, but pleasantly so, by the change in Sayaka’s behavior. It was quite apparently she and Kyouko had made up their differences and became fast friends, talking together at lunch and whenever they hang out. But even asides from that, it seemed like Hitomi and Sayaka had gotten closer as well, though Madoka couldn’t quite tell how.

After class Hitomi would always have a number of extracurricular courses to attend, and Sayaka had a supplementary class to take, so Kyouko would always have some time alone then. But in the evening, when everyone was all set with their obligations, they all headed home together: to Hitomi’s place. Hitomi and Kyouko were soon to find out that Sayaka’s parents were the ones who would always be out because of work, having very little time to actually look after her, so they wouldn’t even know if Sayaka slept for one night at Hitomi’s place instead.

One night, Hitomi arrived back home particularly late, when it was already dark out, and when she reached her bedroom, Sayaka and Kyouko were already in their sleepwear, cuddling together while reading, Sayaka a novel and Kyouko a magazine. They exchanged greetings, Hitomi dropped off her bag, and promptly headed into the bathroom to shower.

Once Hitomi had gotten changed into her sleepwear as well, she climbed in bed with the other two, cuddling her two girlfriends.

“Hitomi, do your parents mind that we do this…?” Sayaka asked, though her voice wasn’t necessarily full of concern. “I mean, a ‘sleepover’ lie can only get you so far…”

“No, as far as I know they do not mind.” Hitomi smiled, each arm around each girlfriend.

“Even if they do I’d probably break in every night anyways.” Kyouko snickered, putting the magazine away on the nightstand.

“Kyouko! That’s not legal!” Sayaka gasped, “You can’t just break into someone’s mansion!”

Hitomi simply laughed at the suggestion, and stroked Kyouko’s hair as she cuddled close to her.

“You done with that chapter yet, Sayaka? Lights off would be nice.” Kyouko asked, nuzzling Hitomi and giving her cheek a kiss.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m done now.” The girl hurriedly put the bookmark back inside and placed the book onto the nightstand on her side of the bed. “Sorry about that, I got too into it.”

“Hehe, it is alright.” Hitomi said, and brought her hands around to clap once for the lights to turn off.

The girl turned to Sayaka and gave her a kiss, and then turned to Kyouko for a kiss as well. And after she was done, Sayaka turned to Kyouko and gave her a kiss too. This had easily become their bedtime routine; their favourite one at that.

Being able to sleep so close to the girls she love so much, being able to share her warmth with them, the ones who always keep her grounded whenever she felt lost, Sayaka couldn’t be happier. Giving her girlfriends one more good night kiss, she whispered, “I love you Hitomi, Kyouko. I love you two so much.”


End file.
